School Structure Strategy Statement – In order to ensure that every student receives what they need to be academically successful, intentional structures need to be in place. • • • The daily schedule for a student needs to be intentional and thoughtful. The daily schedule for a teacher needs to be intentional and thoughtful. The year long calendar needs to be intentional and thoughtful. Student Schedule • All students need sufficient time in classes to learn and practice what they have learned. • Specific attention was given to the length of the literacy/humanities block, the math block and the language acquisition structure. • Intervention structures are also embedded within the student schedule. • Boston values the building of a strong cohesive culture that nurtures the multifacetedness of children, so these things were also considered in the creation of a potential student schedule. Elementary Student 2016-17 2015-16 Class Minutes Class Minutes Community Breakfast 20 Breakfast 15 Literacy/Humanities 150 Literacy 120 Specials 50 ELD/ELE 45 Lunch 40 Specials 50 Math 100 Lunch 30 Specials 50 Sci/S.S. 50 Science 45 Math 95 Total 455 Total 405 Student Day 7:45am - 3:20pm. Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri Wednesday 8:30am - 3:20pm. Middle School Student 2016-17 Class 2015-16 Min Class Min Community Breakfast 20 Breakfast 15 Specials 50 Specials 50 Literacy 100 Literacy 62 Science 50 Science 62 Lunch 40 Lunch 30 Math 100 Math 62 Social Studies 50 Social Studies 62 Transitions 5 Transitions 12 Total 405 Total 455 Student Day 7:45am - 3:20pm. Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri Wednesday 8:30am - 3:20pm. School Structure • 2016-17 • • • • Community Breakfast – this is a dedicated time for cross grade community building. There will be activities, discussions, and a time for sharing. Literacy/Humanties Block – this is an intentional link between Social Studies/International Studies and Literacy. It provides students topics and ideas that can be researched and written about in Literacy. Second Special – this will provide opportunities to explore electives that are outside of the traditional elective and potentially bring in elements of culture i.e. African Dance, Karate, Ti Chi, Yoga, etc. Increased time for Math and Literacy in Middle School – these grades have some of our biggest academic gaps and therefore need some of the strongest supports within the classroom. Extra time allows for additional in class interventions and processing time for students. For the advanced students, it allows for in depth learning of content. School Structure - Calendar • Intentional Calendar – One Planning/Professional Development Day per month. • These are chunked to support families • These are aligned to assessment schedule for deep assessment analysis to meet individual student academic needs. – Three end of the quarter Report Card Reporting Days. – Days added at the beginning of the year to strategically plan for the needs of students. – Late start Wed reduced in time, but still used for the weekly work of vertical teams and whole school planning. School Structure Instructional Time Added • • Students will increase their day from 6.75 hours to 7.58 hours Overall, students will increase their hours in school by 103, which is 13.6 days. School Structure • Teacher Schedule – Duty day 7:30-3:30 – Two 50 min periods during the day teacher’s classes will have Specials • Two of the periods during the week will be dedicated to Professional Learning Communities specifically looking at the teaching learning cycle and data driven instruction. – Plan time is identical to the 2015-16 year, but it has been reallocated throughout the day – Lunch has been increased from 30-40 minutes School Structure: Conditions • • • • • • Flexibility from district calendar Flexibility from district assessments Potential transportation issues if we have students who are bused to school Flexibility in teacher planning times Flexibility in teacher planning days Flexibility in licensing for non-academic classes Boston K8 Cult?re At Boston P-8 we will cultivate and reinforce a culture representing our core values by establishing and reinforcing school wide expectations that allow for character development through: *Development of a daily advisory system that will build strong relationships between and among staff and students *Building systems where students will make a difference in the community/world by participating in service learning *Creating a culture of life-long learning and preparedness by pinpointing transitions in a student’s educational career *Knowing and sharing cultures deeply and intentionally *Establish and encourage PRIDE for our learning community in all stake holders Advisory/Crew/Community groups Advisory (a crew or community group) is a small cohort of students and an adult facilitator that will be the place in the schedule where building strong community relationships are the core. Advisory is the soul of our school, teaching students before teaching subjects. *Students regularly meet to build a small cohort community that supports the larger community of Boston, engaging in leadership opportunities, and building teamwork. *Each student will develop a strong adult-student relationship through regular team building activities and develop pride in and connection to the community through their service projects in the neighborhood *Students and staff will build support systems through advisory meet their individual needs Advisory groups A sample agenda for an advisory group on a Tuesday: After taking attendance and eating breakfast, a morning meeting with the following agenda for 5th/6th grade: • Greetings to each other by sharing ways different cultures greet one another • Discussions around the quote “A winner is a dreamer that never gives up” • Progress report on service project - The Boston Community Garden • Setting intentions for the day • Building chores - collecting breakfast bins today for this group Check-in with advisory group after lunch and then afternoon dismissal from advisory group Why introduce advisory groups? *Boston’s student population consists of 70% English language learners and 20% refugees, and our free-reduced lunch population is at 86% - Because of the linguistic, cultural, economic, and academic diversity found at Boston P-8 in combination with high poverty, we have a complex need for social-emotional supports and development. By intentionally building systems and structures around peer groups, we will foster motivating relationships on a personal level and build resiliency in our students because of our highly mobile population (at 33%) introducing these systems will facilitate smoother transitions into our building by taking time each day to focus on “connectedness” Advisory Groups Timeline Year 1: Implement advisory systems Year 2: Implement local community service projects in advisory. Have a looping element to the advisory groups. Year 3: Implement global leadership projects within the advisory system. Advisory Group Model: Conditions For this model to be successful, how will conditions need to change? • Increase our length of the school day to accommodate the time needed to implement this program • Flexibility of school schedule to prioritize this system Advisory Groups: The WHO Students: How does this affect students in the short-term? Long-term? • The immediate gain is creating diverse and relevant relationships that better support social and emotional needs daily. • Students will be working in the community thereby building leadership skills and experiencing the world at large. Adults: How does this affect adults in the short-term? Long-term? • Adults will also build diverse and relevant relationships with students and other staff to build a strong and resilient culture and community at Boston P-8. • Adults and families in the community will better get to know Boston students as they impact the community. Service Learning Projects: THE WHAT Student will develop their leadership skills at Boston P-8 through researching issues and creating service projects that better their local community and ultimately reach out to the global community at large. *Students utilize academic skills to research, propose, implement, and evaluate service projects for the local and global community *Establish and maintaining open relationships within the community Service Learning Projects Sample service project: Boston staff and students will use design thinking to research and problem-solve the lack of a walkable nearby grocery store with fresh vegetables. Students will then prototype possible real life solutions to the problem including planting a community garden or starting a vegetable food truck and pick their best options to try out in real life. WHY introduce service learning? *help students find their place in their community as a leader while modeling environmental and community stewardship, building our connection with the community *purposeful action within the community will empower students to make a difference in the community - one of Boston’s core values - and develop critical thinking skills that will develop our students’ 21st century skills *students will see real-life application of their academic skills, thereby increasing the relevance of what they are learning and they will develop networking and social skills by working with the community. Service Learning Timeline Year 1: Outreach to experienced groups to partner with and have students and teachers experience the full process of service learning with one project. Year 2: Increase the quantity of and vary the types of service projects completed in the year and ensure they are tied to the International Leadership themes. Year 3: Implement global leadership service projects which can include everything from an international perspective to partnering with other schools across the country and/or state. Service Learning Projects: Conditions For this model to be successful, how will conditions need to change? Dedicated planning time -staff will need devoted training and planning time to fully develop their local/global service project units and to fully integrate required standards. Flexibility in how planning is used throughout the year. Service Learning: The WHO Students: *Students strengthen and utilize their academics through real-life research, planning, and implementation. *Service learning helps students build empathy through studying and understanding problems of others. *Students will be working in the community thereby building leadership skills and experiencing the world at large Adults: *Adults will strengthen bonds with the students and the community. *Adults will better understand the needs of the community and the world at large. Promoting students to be life-long learners through meaningful transitions: THE WHAT Boston will focus on the various transition periods of our Boston students throughout their academic career through promotion of life-long learning. This will result in: *Students are fully informed and prepared for the educational process each step of the way - from Pre-K through post-graduate. *Students will build peer and adult networks to help them through the milestones of education. *Students will find joy in learning through a focus on engagement and promotion of enrichment activities. Promoting life-long learners High School Transition Plan- students connecting and seeing the importance of a high school education. High school event (plays, music/art programs, athletic events, etc) tickets are awarded to students at PBiS Assemblies as incentives, but also to expose students to the next level of education in a positive manner. Guest speaker - high school students present their International Leadership Projects to different grade levels. Connection High School Boot Camp 8th grd High School Transition 3rd/4th grade - creating a household budget and how it is impacted by the earning of a high school diploma, associate's degree, bachelor's degree, master’s degree, and a doctorate degree. Importance Boston Counselor spend 1 day a week at the high school for the first quarter to follow up on Boston students Transition Why introduce promotion of life-long learning? Many of our students come from homes that do not have an established experience with college education (and, often, high school) and because there is such a high drop out rate in our zone, Boston like to focus on ensuring our students have all the tools they need to survive the competive educational ladder of success. We believe high school and college readiness starts in preschool. ▪ The 2014-15 4-year, on-time graduation rate for Aurora Central High School - which serves Boston students - was 44.4 percent and has failed to break 50 percent for the past three school years (APS’s graduation rate for 2014-15 was 59 percent, and Colorado’s overall graduation rate for 2014-15 was 77.3 percent). ▪ The 2014-15 dropout rate for Aurora Central High School was 10.5 percent (APS’s dropout rate for 2014-15 was 4.4 percent, and Colorado’s overall dropout rate was 2.5 percent). Central’s dropout rate for both 2012-13 and 2013-14 was 8.8 percent. ▪ According to a study done by YouthTruth out of San Fransisco, over half of the students surveyed did not feel ready for college http: //edsource.org/2015/survey-most-high-school-students-feelunprepared-for-college-careers/83752 this will support students to become not only advocates for their education, but also improve their communication and organizational skills Promoting life-long learning Timeline Year 1: staff provide authentic opportunities for students to be exposed and indoctrinated into the next grade level Year 2: structures are introduced for students to have supports as they move on and up the educational ladder (continued check-ins with significant adults, etc) Year 3: college visits and similar higher educational level experiences and exposures Life-long learning: The WHO Students: • Students will receive structured, sustained support and mentorship from adults and peers so they don’t fall through the cracks. • Students will have the connections and advocacy skills to ask for what they need to support their education. • Students will be more prepared to enter college or higher education if they feel secure, informed, and prepared at each level of the process. Adults: ▪ Mentor-type adults will be able to “follow” students progress and will have increased opportunity to help a student that might be struggling. ▪ Family of our students will be reassured that their children have experts actively and intentionally assisting their children towards college. ▪ Adults will be serving as liaisons to help make transitions smoother. Life-long learning: Conditions For this model to be successful, how will conditions need to change? We will need to plan intentionally to create experiences where students will have formal exposure to higher levels of learning strategically from grades P-8. We will need to establish more systematic process to provide sustainable connections to significant adults. Knowing and sharing cultures deeply and intentionally: THE WHAT At Boston P-8 we will learn new ways to experience cultures deeply and intentionally. By doing this we want to: * utilize our linguistic and cultural diversity to build capacity in community and promote unity *create a welcoming culture of staff, students, and the community framing the diversity of the community as assets *develop a more equitable environment by actively educating the staff, students, and community in our shared diversity Knowing culture deeply or ngs f as eeti d en r m g e a ache l b si /Te s Po rent Pa A book study on equity: Schooling for Resilience: Improving the Life Trajectories of African American and Latino Males by Edward Fergus, Pedro Noguera, and Margary Martin (2014) Harvard Education Press). Language features miniseminar-community leaders teach the teachers a bit about the language structures of some of the common languages found in the neighborhood (word order, conjugation of verbs, ways people are named, etc.). A team building exercise with the goal of learning about the conflicts in the home countries of our refugees and the many reasons that families migrate from other countries into the US. Why introduce a deeper understanding of cultures? ▪ It would be mutually beneficial to build capacity within our community and to develop a resource exchange between the community and the school - translation services, cultural education, and job training. At Boston, it necessary to increase communication and education that foster relationships on a community level due to the linguistic, cultural, and academic diversity. These differences have created disconnects in communication through tangible barriers such as language and through less tangible ones such as cultural misinterpretation. Boston’s student population consists of 70% English language learners and 20% refugees Our mobility is at 33% and our free-reduced lunch population is at 86% - our diverse, high-poverty area is not reflected in the majority of our teaching staff, therefore this is one way to begin to address any disconnects and increase understandings Deep cultural understanding Timeline Year 1: implement cultural sharing trainings for staff and community to improve and develop understandings around our diversity. Identify barriers to communication and address some of these barriers. Year 2: Continue to refine communication strategies. Incorporate community leaders into planning cultural events and service projects Year 3: develop a systematic and sustained integration of our community leaders into Boston P-8’s culture and explore new ways to develop new community leaders from our students. Develop resource-sharing within the community. Deeper cultural understandings: The WHO Students: • The students will have adults surrounding them that have a more complete picture of their culture and are therefore better able to support students. • By intentionally facilitating complex dialogue students will deepen their cultural understandings of one another. Adults: • Adults will have increased empathy for the community and will gain actual concrete understandings around the various cultures that can be applied to systems as varied as curriculum development to school calendars and even lunch menus. • Adults will be better able to interact with one another and be better models for our emerging global leaders. • Adult community leaders will develop marketable skills in training and communication. Deeper Cultural Understandings: Conditions For this model to be successful, how will conditions need to change? • We will need to create or find trainings that address our community’s unique diverse needs of our Boston population. • We will need to identify/find/develop community leaders Pride: THE WHAT The What: Pride at Boston P-8 is playing a contributing role in maintaining and improving all aspects of the school’s environment, programs and activities within the content and stakeholders of contributing to the betterment of the community,city, county and state. In order to effectively and strategically develop pride at Boston P-8 and community we will: ● ● ● ● ● students and parents will meet and identify needs in the community and school. achieve curricular objectives through service- learning and reflect throughout the service-learning experience develop student and family responsibility in various aspects at Boston P-8 and the community establish community partnerships that will enhance pride and respect in our school and community establishing a theme and culture that is unique to Boston P-8 Pride: THE WHO THE WHO: How will this affect our students? Short Term: Students will develop a sense of ownership in their school and community. Developing leadership skills and motivation to have control over their learning and understand that their ideas matter. Students at Boston P-8 will understand that their voice matters and will be part of the change at Boston. Long Term: Students will continue to work with the teachers, administration and stakeholders in the development of new strategies for pride as our school changes throughout the years. Adults: How does this affect our adults? Short Term: Adults will partake in the development of not only pride at Boston P-8,but also the community around the school. Using the resources available as Boston becomes the hub of the community, parents can be engaged and take the lead in developing these ideas. Long Term: Adults will continue to reach out to all members in the community and educate them about the resources Boston has to offer for them. This will allow for the community to be involved in the activities and projects the school is implementing. Pride: THE WHY THE WHY: At Boston P-8 this model is introduced due to the following reasons: ● minimal student leadership opportunities ● viewpoint of success from the community and parents are at a low ● lack of student/parent confidence in academics, school environment and student character development ● create an atmosphere that is unique to Boston P-8 to increase pride in our students, our school, and our community. Pride Year 1: Begin to establish pride within the culture of the school. Student leadership groups and advisory meetings as part of the daily schedule. Working with partnerships within the community and nationally to promote an unique atmosphere at Boston (theme of halls around a college in Boston, MA). Continue to use PBIS awards and other activities that promote positive behavior and atmosphere at Boston. Year 2: Continue to implement year one with an addition to new uniforms that are designed by students and parents. Also, partnership with organizations that help promote programs focused on student and school pride. Year 3: Continue to monitor and refine programs and systems that increase school pride. Involve school in outside activities and competitions that honor student accomplishments. Pride: THE HOW ● Flexibility in student scheduling to provide specific structures to increase student voice. ● Flexibility in how the building is used to create a welcoming area for parents that will help the community increase their voices in how to support Boston. ● Increased funds to support a full time community outreach coordinator. Instruction Curriculum & Instruction Strategy Statement At Boston K-8 we will provide our students with a rich a education by… • building teacher expertise in best first instructional strategies and calibrating practices school-wide. • providing real life application opportunities for learning • determining the standards that need to be taught in each grade and how those standards fit within the learning trajectory of a K-8. • calibrating understandings of language development and acquisition • using a strong rigorous data driven instruction model in reading, writing, and math. Prototype 1: best first instructional strategies THE WHAT: At Boston K-8 we will calibrate our building’s understanding and practice of best first instructional strategies. Teachers will have the knowledge and skill set to engage a diverse group of learners utilizing research based instructional strategies that meet the wide range of needs of our school’s learners. Objectives: Teachers will create a toolbox of strategies that can been used to meet specific needs. After determining the needs of their group of students, the teachers will then become experts in choosing and implementing lessons that include specific strategies that will engage the wide range of learners. First Instructional Strategies: The WHY • Based on current data, Boston has a low teacher retention rate. As a result of constant turnover, Boston hasn’t been able to establish their instructional identity. Providing professional development will allow teachers to be given the skills to feel confident in planning and implement lessons that meet the needs of their students. • Incorporating best first instructional strategies allow for the each student to engage in the learning of the lesson; therefore, allowing students to learn the maximum amount in a lesson and retain that knowledge into the following grades. First Self-report Entities Piagettan pragra ms Pra'iriding formative evaluation Micro teaming Acceleration behavinrat Carriprehenslve Interventions for learning disabled Teacher claritI,I Reciprocal teaching Feedback Teacher-student relatianmips Spaced vs. mass practice Met cog-time strategies Friclr achievement Vocabulary- pragra nu Hep-eatch reading programs tire a?u'itv progra Professional dc'r?f'i??m?l?il i1j1 0,59 i115? 0.6? $.55 nstructional Strategies: The WHAT Marzano's 9 Effective Instructional Strategies 9 Effective Instructional Strategies Effective instruction is hey to improving student learning. These 9 instructional strategies help students achieve at higher levels. ldemi ing Similarities e! Differenm The ahi to break a concept into its similar and dissimilar characteristics allows students to nderstand co plex problems by analyzing them in a more simple way. Summarizing a Note Taking These skills support increasod comprehension by asking students to identify what's essential and then put it in their own words. Rehforcing Efforts handing mum Teachers need to help studentsseethe relationship between effort. achievement. andremg nilion. Homework and Practice Practice su ports learning. homework needs to be intentiona and have a speci?c goal or outcome. Cooperative Learning Research shows that organizing students into cooperative groups yields a positive effect on overall learning. Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback Set objectives that are adaptable to student learning goals and provide feedback toward those goals Genem?ngandTe?sting Hypothesis and explain the oath Questions. Cues. and Advance Organizers Use questions. cues. and advance or?anizers to help students tap into their background nowledge to make sense 0! information. st uchievcmen amino A Association lor Supervision and Curriculum IN Develo pntem {litentcy} resources. audits. consulting. Eann. czoaai What warksinschaals at arch into action. Aleiandria. fc-rSuperrislon and Curriculum leamingunlimitedllc.com First Instructional Strategies: : The WHEN Year 1: Teachers will learn about research based instructional strategies that will be a best fit for the needs of our students and staff and practice effectively implementing these strategies into daily lessons building wide. Year 2: Teachers will increase their level of expertise in the strategies and begin to take on implementation responsibility in grade level teams and maintain open communication of strategy implementation vertically. Year 3: Teachers will be experts in identifying the strategies needed for their group of learners to allow for maximum learning by each student in daily lessons. First Instructional Strategies: The HOW For this model to be successful, professional development will need to be provided to all staff and be focused around these strategies. We will need staff experts on these strategies who will lead us in how to appropriately incorporate them into the daily lessons based off of student needs. After the strategies have been presented and practice time has been provided, a building expectation will need to be set so that all teachers are utilizing these strategies consistently. First Instructional Strategies: : IMpact on Our Students and Staff In the short term, all students will be able to actively participate in engaging lessons and will be able to accurately demonstrate their learning. In the long term, students will take the knowledge gained from these engaging lessons and connect it to the outside world allowing them to develop their global identity Adults: In the short term, teachers will be provided with meaningful professional development that directly connects to the needs of their learners and will present their lessons that are engaging to all. In the long term, teachers will have the knowledge and skill set to plan for lessons that make learning more meaningful and engaging to our students where the needs are identified and taught to. Real life Application: THE WHAT At Boston K-8 we will provide real-life application opportunities for learning. Teachers will provide thematic, integrated, application-based learning opportunities within and outside the classroom. Objectives: Within a predetermined building-wide theme, grade level teams will decide on application-based learning opportunities that meet that theme. Teachers will communicate their needs to outside stakeholders in order to bring the real-world learning into the classroom. Real life Application : The WHAT Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge. Real life Application : The WHY • Based on the data, there is a lack of transfer from grade-to-grade, contentto-content and to district and state-wide testing. • Our high population of English Language Learners can benefit from project based learning opportunities by allowing them to gain background experiences in the topic area they will be learning about. This will allow them to make connections throughout each content area. • This style of instruction will allow for structured language practice and acquisition to occur naturally across units by using common vocabulary, usage, structure across the four language domains. Real life Application : The WHEN Year 1: Building wide themes will be determined for the school year across the building. Teachers will determine what can be investigated in their grade level that meets this theme and allows for multi-content integration. Teachers will brainstorm outside stakeholders and resources that can be utilized in these investigations to further support learning. Year 2: Teachers will continue to establish and maintain relationships with community partners. Year 3: Teachers will be experts Real life Application : The HOW For this model to be successful: ○ ○ Flexibility in how PD is structured and intentionally planned for the year. It is imperative to have grade levels working together and also for vertical planning needs to take place. Flexibility from the district pacing and planning guides to align content across the grade levels as needed. Real life Application : The WHO In the short term, all students will be able to investigate the world around them. In the long term, students will take the knowledge gained from these engaging lessons and connect it to the outside world allowing them to develop their global identity. In the short term, teachers will present learning in engaging ways that allow their students to connect their gained knowledge to cross content areas and into the outside world. In the long term, teachers will have a foundational understanding of supporting students in taking ownership of their learning. Provide meaningful language acquisition in a supportive environment: THE WHAT: At Boston K-8 we will understand the abilities of our language learners so that each learner has the opportunity to accurately communicate their understandings of learning. Objectives: After analyzing and identifying strengths and struggles of our language learning groups using the WIDA language standards, teachers will effectively choose and implement language strategies that create a supportive environment for direct language instruction to happen across all four domains for all students throughout the school day. Language Acquisition: The WHAT Level 2-5 Receive language acquisition lessons that are differentiated by WIDA level in Science grade level content All students receive intentional and deliberate language development instruction in all content areas. Level 1 Students Close transitional work with ELA Teacher Leader to support students’ successful integration into the classroom. This will include getting to know the student and family while they get to know the resources and supports at Boston. Provide language supports in students’ native language through the transition process. Language Acquisition: The WHY • Based on the data, Boston K-8 population is comprised of 70% of English language learners within all six levels of language proficiency levels. There are over 17 different languages spoken at Boston. • Gaining a better understanding of language acquisition will allow for teachers to better understand the needs, struggles and abilities of the learners we have in each proficiency level. This will also assist teachers in how to challenge and push their students when ready to advance to the next level of proficiency. • In learning strategies that support the abilities and needs within each level, teachers can provide more engaging lessons that will allow students to further their English language proficiency in authentic ways. Language Acquisition: : The WHEN Year 1: Building wide professional development will need to be provided in the understandings of WIDA language standards across the four domains of speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills. Within this PD, teachers will learn the abilities of each proficiency level, the needs of these learners, and strategies and supports that should be provided to assist their learning. Year 2: Through collaborative planning and coaching, teachers will effectively choose strategies and supports to use throughout the school day that meet the needs of the students in their classroom. These supports will allow for students to further their language proficiency and accurately communicate their understandings of content learning. Year 3: Teachers will have a collection of strategies and supports to pull from and know how to pair these with the needs they see in their students so that the language needs of the classroom are being met and the students are being challenged in their language acquisition. Language Acquisition: : The Conditions In order for this model to be successful: • Flexibility in how and when language acquisition is taught to students. • Flexibility in the daily schedule to potentially group students by language acquisition levels for certain content. • Flexibility in daily schedule to provide intense language support for new coming WIDA level 1 students. Language Acquisition: The WHO In the short term, all students will be able to communicate their understanding of classroom content. In the long term, students will take the knowledge gained from these supportive environments and communicate their understandings to the outside world allowing them to develop their global identity. In the short term, teachers will know, plan for, and support the needs of their language learners so that they are able to accurately communicate their content understandings. In the long term, teachers will have a foundational understanding of language acquisition therefore creating a toolbox of strategies that can be pulled from to meet the language needs within the four domains of language for all students in all content areas. Standards Based Teaching and Learning in a K-8 Building: THE WHAT At Boston K-8, we will identify the standards for each grade level and create a trajectory of learning so that the content is aligned and built upon each year. Objectives: Teachers will meet with vertical and horizontal teams weekly and biweekly to discuss the standards and what the expectations are at each level. Teachers will determine what proficiency looks like at collect samples of student work that demonstrates mastery of the standard. As a result of this, teachers will have the knowledge of what is taught at each level and how to differentiate for the diverse needs in their classroom. Standards Based Teaching and Learning The WHAT 3 am cu??h?hm El? ?Emma a INDUSTRY "ma Wm?le WELL INCLUDING ., EPEER: 32: mm as ESHEARINE a INTEREST - . - . 321'!? I a SIRHNEHME mm mum: MEMBERS: m" Stu Ida-inf Learning 'I'a'ill hug Much affo-Lr'lv-Ily ENE-LITE - Icul V'I'J'lcll' H- huh-n [If ?1 Elva I IF an" that Hun-fun? hurr- nr hum: hill-Firmly- Standards Based Teaching and Learning Common Core State Standards Mathematics Standards Progressions Kindergarten 3 HS Countiggand I. Ratios and Pmmr?unal Number and Eela??nships Quantity The Number System Number and Duera?ans in Base Ten Number and Dueratiens - Fractions Egressinns and Egua?nns ?gratious and Algebraic Thing" Euns?nns Geometgg Sta?slics and Measurement and Data and Pruhab?rhr Probability Standards Based Teaching and Learning : The WHO In the short term, all students will be given grade level instruction that is centered on the grade level standard. In the long term, students will be given individualized instruction. In the short term, teachers will become experts on their grade level standards and have an understanding of what proficiency looks like at their grade level. They will utilize the Standards Based Teaching and Learning Cycle (What, How, How, What) using a focused curriculum that aligns to their grade level standards. Teachers will also understand the trajectory of learning in the K-8 building. In the long term, teachers will gain the skill set to differentiate their lessons by working in vertical teams. Teachers will be able to determine gaps in learning and plan for individualized instruction. Standards Based Teaching and Learning : The WHY • Boston has a low retention rate with their teachers. Each year brings brand new teachers and new teams. In order to support our new teachers, we need to provide professional development around grade level standards and the Standards Based Teaching and Learning Cycle. • Our students are not performing on grade level in math, science, and literacy, and our teachers struggle to meet the needs of our diverse learners. Our MTSS process has not been a consistent, effective process that is accelerating students - so our goal is to have a strong system of support. • We need to have grade level and vertical planning to support teachers in the trajectory of standards. Standards Based Teaching and Learning : The WHEN Year 1: Grade level teams will meet to analyze their standards and plan when and what they will teach throughout the school year. During the first year, teachers will meet weekly to discuss how students are performing and what students need to be accelerated or put in intervention. MTSS will be embedded. Teachers will receive professional development around standards progression and what proficiency looks like at each grade level. Teachers will use a focused curriculum that aligns with the grade level standards. Year 2: Teachers will strategically plan and differentiate grade level lessons using data. Data will drive instruction. Structures will be created and time allotted for grade level and vertical teams. Year 3: Students will receive individualized instruction and will reflect on their learning through student portfolios, student-led conferences. Teachers will plan individualized instruction based on data and student needs. Assessing learning of students: THE WHAT At Boston K8 we will be involved in a strong rigorous data driven instruction model in reading, writing, and math. Objectives: Teachers will assess the learning of their students by using assessments that align ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ with the content skills predetermined by grade level standards using a data driven instructional model. Teachers will be involved in two a weekly Professional Learning Community one that will focused specifically on math and the other on literacy. individual student work will be analyzed and assessed in order to determine next steps for each individual student and next steps for the classroom as a whole. Daily, weekly, mini assessments will be conducted to measure students’ mastery of the content. Every 5-6 weeks a common formative assessment will be administered which again will determine student’s next targeted learning. Instruction interventions for individual or groups of students will also be considered at multiple points which could take the form of a targeted small group, computer designed, and/or specific tutoring interventions. Each grade level will have two planning periods a day to provide the structure to support this model. Monthly Reflection Days will be added to the calendar dive deeply into individual and school wide data analysis. Assessing learning of students: : The WHY Using data systematically to ask questions and obtain insight about student progress is a logical way to monitor continuous improvement and tailor instruction to the needs of each student. Armed with data and the means to harness the information data can provide, teachers can make instructional changes aimed at improving student achievement, such as: • prioritizing instructional time • targeting additional individual instruction for students who are struggling with particular topics • more easily identifying individual students’ strengths and instructional interventions that can help students continue to progress • gauging the instructional effectiveness of classroom lessons • refining instructional methods • examining schoolwide data to consider whether and how to adapt the curriculum based on information about students’ strengths and weaknesses. Assessing learning of students: The WHAT Clear learning targets set for the day, week and 5 week cycle. Reteach strategies Intervention strategies Grade levels plan together effective instruction using different modalities and methods • Daily target student assessment – exit ticket, teacher monitoring, quiz, etc. • Weekly target student assessment – set of word problems, writing assignment, end of week quiz • 5 week common formative assessment Assessing learning of students: : The WHO ∗ Short-term and long-term Impact on Students Creating a robust data driven process allow students to monitor their own academic growth and gives them clear understandings of the targeted learning for a student in their grade level. This will prepare students for their next level of education so they are confident in their knowledge and they seek clarity in their own academic learning targets. ∗ Short-term and long-term impact on Teachers These systems will provide teachers with a team to develop targeted learning goals and monitor student mastery of these goals daily, and weekly. It also provides a structure of highly focused interventions. Assessing learning of students: : The WHEN ∗ Year 1: Implement Professional Learning Communities in Writing, and Math. Develop common formative assessments in each. ∗ Year 2: Implement Professional Learning Communities in Writing/Reading, and Math. Develop common formative assessments in each. ∗ Year 3: Continue to refine the Teaching Learning Cycle and Professional Learning Communities. Assessing learning of students: : THE HOW? ∗ For this model to be successful, the following conditions must be met: ∗ Strong teaching partners in the areas of Literacy and Mathematics ∗ Flexibility from the teacher union master agreement to accommodate embedded planning time for teachers and teams. ∗ Flexibility from the teacher union master agreement to create a calendar to create strategic data /planning days. ∗ Ability to create and seek out assessments that target learning and are transparent, easy data analysis format and aligned to Colorado Common Core Standards. Famin Community Engagement Strategy Statement: In order to effectively and strategically engage and empower our families and students to reach their highest potential we will utilize the community to build strategic academic partnerships and use Boston K-8 as a resource center to meet non-academic family needs. • Build & monitor partnerships with local community programs that will allow our students to make academic progress. Build & monitor partnerships with local businesses to directly meet student needs (ex. speakers, field trips that coincide with curriculum). • Create an atmosphere of open communication where the families and students know that Boston is the center point or hub of the community where they can have access to resources that meet their non-academic needs. Build Partnerships: THE WHAT Boston K-8 desires to engage local businesses, communities and clubs to develop a variety of local partnerships that holistically meet students’ academic needs. We desire students to have diverse and relevant role models and community partnerships who can assist in real world application of our curriculum through authentic relationships and who can empower our students to reach their academic goals. In order to effectively and strategically engage and empower our families and community we will: • Identify student academic needs and match those needs with potential organizational partnerships and or mentors. • Implement a role model program utilizing members from the community to promote academic support. • Create opportunities through partnerships to enhance the curriculum and provide more field experience/real world application for our students. • Evaluate effectiveness of current partnerships & discontinue those that are not effective. Build Partnerships Student Needs Partners Criteria Schedule of Services Homework Help Boys and Girls Club, Tutoring, high school volunteers from local high schools Teacher generated rubric, checklist, curriculum standards list After School 5 days a week for 45 minutes all year round Enrichment Robotics, application development, opportunity for students to be part of local arts programs, science programs local contests, performances, surveys Varies; 3-5 days a week for 45 minutes to an hour all year round. Weekends throughout the year (program specific) Remediation Boys and Girls Club, 8th graders (service), high school students Teacher generated rubric, checklist, curriculum standards list During school (intervention), after school 5 days a week 45 minutes Partnership resources that aid in learning/teaching Hospitals, community arts programs (Denver performing arts), local community organizations donating supplies in classrooms, speakers No criteria here; just opportunities for enhancement in the classroom and students’ experience and understanding All year round, in classrooms or after school and weekends Build Partnerships: THE WHO Students Short Term: Students will have the opportunity to engage in field experiences that relate to real world ideas of what they are learning and they will have access to expanded curricular resources. They will build relationships with diverse and relevant mentors that encourage them to pursue their long and short term academic goals and who give them a positive example outside of Boston K-8. Students will also begin to see our Boston K-8 community as a center point for relationships, resources and support for their academic needs. Students will feel known and connected to Boston K-8. Long Term: Students will utilize field experiences that will support their learning as they progress throughout educational levels and college/career readiness. They will have relationships that are resources for them as they move on in their educational career. Adults Short Term: Partnerships will allow adults in the community and at Boston K-8 to better support students’ academic progress. Partnerships will give staff members more resources to offer our students during and after the school day. Long Term:. Staff will have a bigger community supporting them in meeting student academic needs. Boston K8’s academic achievement will increase and the achievement gap will decrease. Build Partnerships: THE WHY At Boston K-8 this model is introduced due to the following reasons: • Minimal community involvement in Boston K-8 • Students lack understanding of different avenues for them to reach their goals and vision for their academic futures. • Low academic achievement data – Need for increased interventions/small group support At Boston K-8 this model is supported by the following data/research: • Few partnerships that support our students academically. • Students’ difficulty in writing, reading and math inhibit them to fully comprehend their future selves (CMAS data, acuity,lack of experience with personal mentors that help motivate and inspire them). Build Partnerships: THE WHEN Year 1: Reach out to local businesses and programs to begin conversations about academic partnerships. Secure at least one local partnership that is able to be a consistent presence in our building and with our students. Analyze partnerships that already are established to determine their effectiveness in increasing our student’s academic progress. Year 2: Work with established partner to consistently meet the academic needs of our students. Reach out to any other potential local partnerships that are willing to work with us to fill holes in other academic needs. Analyze academic data to determine the effectiveness of the partnerships adopted in year 1. Year 3: Continue to refine and develop strong academic partnerships. Work with established partnerships to consistently meet the academic needs of our students. Analyze academic data to determine the effectiveness of the partnerships adopted in year 1 and year 2. Build Partnerships: THE HOW ● Create a team to write a job description for a community outreach coordinator (if different than current position). ● Hire a full time community outreach coordinator to lead our community partnerships. ● Reach out to businesses/partnerships (locally and nationally) that will assist our students academically. ● Establish community and school wide meetings with partnerships. ● Train partnerships on our instructional methods so they can best support our students academically. ● Seek nonprofit organizations to monetarily support the structure. ● Implement a flexible contract with partnerships so that Boston K-8 can enter into and terminate partnerships as needed. Boston as the Hub: THE WHAT Boston K-8 desires to transform into a space that integrates student, family and community services. Our goal is to establish Boston as the focus of community life in our neighborhood: a place where our families, students & community services can meet, grow and become mutually beneficial to one another . We desire to serve as the focal point for transmitting shared values, resources and support and for instilling in our students the ideals of being citizens of the world and of our community. In order to transform Boston K-8 into the hub of our community, we will: • Frequently analyze the factors that are getting in the way of our student’s academic progress and address them within our building and community. • Provide newcomer support and connection to the Aurora Welcome Center. • Provide continued education for parents & family members to help them reach their goals. • Give families a wide variety of volunteer opportunities. • Involve families in academic and social events at Boston K-8. • Connect families and students to local service opportunities to empower them to give back to our community. • Make home visits frequently. • Provide transportation or programming at Boston K-8 for families to get the resources they need. • Initiate a clear communication system to address the linguistic needs of our community. Boston as the Hub Field Trips & field experiences Business Partners Boston K-8 School Welcome Center Community Clubs & Activities Community Resources Continued education Boston as the Hub: THE WHY At Boston K-8 this model is introduced due to the following reasons: • Minimal parental and community involvement • An increase in parents advocating for support in community resource utilization. • Families desire educational opportunities and knowledge that will empower them to support their own personal and family growth. • Due to cultural and linguistic challenges it is easy for our community to stay segregated. At Boston k-8 this model is supported by the following data/research: • Attendance at Boston sponsored events is lower than we would like. ( Ex. parent-teacher conferences, music performances, educational nights etc.) • We are geographically central in our neighborhood. Many of our families do not travel outside of our 8 block radius. • With Boston K-8 as a hub, students would have alternative options to being on the streets after school and on weekends and will be more likely to make good choices and continue in education. • Students seeing their parents reach their goals and advocate for their own continued education will motivate our students and normalize moving forward towards graduating high school and beyond. Boston as the Hub: THE WHEN Year 1: Begin to establish Boston K-8 as a community hub and reach out to parents to survey needs and goals. Hire a full time community coordinator at Boston K-8. As a staff, engage in a root cause analysis to figure out the factors that negatively impact student’s academic progress. Reach out to non-profit organizations to help with monetary needs in setting up Boston as a hub. Begin to develop a parent center that houses resources for families. Give families a wide variety of volunteer opportunities. Year 2: Continue to monitor and refine community partnerships that provide resources to our families. Continue developing a parent center that meets the needs of our families. Begin to explore the options in transportation or programming at Boston K-8 for families to get the resources they need outside of our neighborhood. Year 3: Continue to monitor and refine community partnerships that provide resources to our families. Continue developing a parent center that meets the needs of our families. Connect families and students to local service opportunities to empower them to give back to our community. Boston as the Hub: THE HOW • Create an avenue for parents and students to communicate needs and wants. • Create a position for a full time community coordinator employed at Boston K-8 and hire them. • Engage in an active partnership with Aurora Welcome Center. • Budgetary autonomy & support. Accountability Strategy Statement ∗ At Boston K8 we will cultivate and reinforce a strong accountability system that strategically monitors the effectiveness of teacher instruction and teacher supports ∗ Boston will develop a systematic support system for teachers to maximize teacher effectiveness and therefore student achievement. ∗ Boston has a hiring and dismissal systems that maximizes effective teachers and support staff in the right positions to maximize students’ academic growth. Boston will seek and maintain effective teachers: THE WHAT ∗ The What: One of our school values is to develop excellence within the classroom. We want our students to leave school everyday knowing that they have learned something of value and that they are becoming strong scholars. To accomplish this, we need to systematically support our teachers in their growth as educators. ∗ Individualized observations and feedback one everything from classroom management to increasing rigor in the classroom. ∗ Use of observation/feedback to feed the evaluation system. ∗ Grade level team support in developing lessons and learning targets. ∗ Content support ∗ Potential coaching (personal and/or content planning) Boston will seek and maintain effective teachers Grade Teacher O/F Primary frequency Evaluator Coach 1 Aguliar Denise week Kara 1 Smith Kara biweek Kara 1 Delbert Patricia biweek Kara 2 Klava Kara week Kara 2 Antonio Kara week Kara 4 Olivas Denise week Ruth 4 Par Quin Patricia biweek Ruth 4 Jelly Ruth week Ruth 5 Reuben Patricia week Ruth 5 Chavez Patricia biweek Ruth 6 Hernandez Patricia biweek Ruth 6 Levey Ruth week Ruth 7&8 Renee Denise week Ruth 7&8 Osborn Ruth week Ruth 7&8 Jacks Ruth biweek Ruth 7&8 Warden Ruth week Ruth KG Blesken Denise week Kara KG Shivers Kara week Kara KG Practic Kara biweek Kara Planning Secondary Coach period Meghan Haley 1:05-1:55 Denise Maghan 1:55-2:45 Patricia Haley 10:00-10:50 5th- Patricia Denise 11:25-12:15 Denise Patricia 11:25-12:15 Denise Patricia 9:10-10:00 Haley Meghan 12:15-1:05 Teachers are given support through O/F Observation/Feedback depending on need (weekly or biweekly). Observations and feedback are captured on a google doc and emailed to teacher. Each teacher is given a primary and secondary Coach specific to content. These supports can be individual or team level planning. Boston will seek and maintain effective teachers ∗ Why Observation/Feedback? ∗ Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement. The term “feedback” is used to describe the helpful information or criticism about prior action or behavior from an individual, communicated to another individual who can use that information to adjust and improve current and future actions and behaviors. An observation/feedback system, provides timely feedback with tangible actions steps to support educators on a personal scale. ∗ This model directly parallels effective instruction strategies used with students. Boston will seek and maintain effective teachers ∗ Why Content Coaching? ∗ Having coaches in both literacy and math will enable educators to solicit support in both contents. Many of our elementary teachers instruct in literacy and math, so instructional support in both of these areas is important. The primary coach could do personal coaching with a teacher and/or work with the grade level team in support of developing differentiated and rigorous lessons. A secondary coach would only work with the grade level as a whole group. Boston will seek and maintain effective teachers ∗ Year 1: First year teachers would participate in weekly observation/feedback sessions. All other teachers will be on a different cycle which may include biweekly sessions. ∗ Year 2: Refine and continue year 1. Train peer observers in observation feedback methods. ∗ Year 3: Refine and continue as above. Boston will seek and maintain effective teachers ∗ For this model to be successful: ∗ Flexibility from teacher union master agreement to reallocate planning structures within a single day and within the year. ∗ Flexibility from teacher union master agreement & the state evaluation system to allow observation/feedback as a way teachers can demonstrate effectiveness. Boston will seek and maintain effective teachers Short-term and long- term Impact on Students ∗ Embedding strong support for teachers effectiveness will increase the stability of teachers so students will have consistent teaching and opportunity to build long-term relationships with caring adults. Students will also benefit directly from observation/feedback and content coaching. Students will have targeted learning goals and timely interventions when they don’t understand concepts. Short-term and long- term Impact on Teachers ∗ Teachers will have support structures to aid in their growth as a professional. They will receive real-time feedback that will impact their teaching effectiveness immediately. The grade level coaching will result in deep level planning that is differentiated to meet students academic needs. Hiring and Dismissal Systems: THE WHAT • Many Boston students have experienced multiple interruptions throughout their educational career in addition to other challenges. This requires masterful staff members to positively impact student growth. To accomplish this we need to: – Hire the right staff member at the right time to support our students. – Dismiss ineffective staff members who are not growing at a rate of urgency that is needed with our population of students. Hiring and Dismissal Systems: THE WHAT Year 1 Year 2 • Staff Member receives support through observation feedback from administrator, teaching partner, teacher leader, other trained staff • A coaching cycle maybe implemented to support staff member. • If at the end of the year, staff member is evaluated as less than effective they will have one more year of support to increase their effectiveness. • Staff Member receives support through observation feedback from administrator, teaching partner, teacher leader, other trained staff • Staff member will be required to participate in a coaching cycle as appropriate to their position. • If staff member is evaluated as less than effective, they will be dismissed and non-renewed from the district. Hiring and Dismissal Systems: THE WHY • • Teachers have the greatest impact on student learning as compared to all other aspects of a school. It is imperative that Boston employs only Master educators to teach our children. Our students come to us from a wide variety of situations that often put barriers to learning. We need individuals that demonstrate the highest level of effectiveness. Boston has a high population of students of color, students of poverty, emergent bilinguals, and a significant transient population. These are just some of the factors that impact our students. Having a high–quality teacher throughout elementary school can substantially offset or even eliminate the disadvantage of low socioeconomic background. If poor children consistently got great teachers, the achievement gap could disappear. Hiring and Dismissal Systems: TIMELINE • • • Year 1 – Develop a systematic process to evaluating teachers that aligns to the support systems at Boston and establish equitable protocols on how to dismiss ineffective teachers. Year 2 – Continue to refine these processes with teacher and staff imput. Year 3 – Same as above Hiring and Dismissal Systems: HOW ∗ For this model to be successful, the following conditions must be met: ∗ Flexibility in the evaluation system ∗ Flexibility from the teacher union master agreement in regards to the dismissal process for teachers ∗ Flexibility from the district classified staff protocol and evaluation system to dismiss ineffective staff members. ∗ Flexibility in the hiring timeline to meet the needs of the school ∗ Flexibility in hiring processes for mental health staff, teaching partners, and administration.